Jewish settlers defy Israeli army to protect tent city

Two thousand Jewish settlers brought the Israeli army to a grinding halt yesterday.

The settlers, many carrying guns, converged around a cluster of tents and mobile homes on a hill in the West Bank to protect them from Israeli soldiers who had been ordered to dismantle them.

The Jewish settlement, Havat Gilad, is named after Gilad Zar, who was killed by Palestinian militants in 2001.

Settlements cover the hilltops of the West Bank and usually militants attack them and the Israeli army defends them. But unlike other settlements, Havat Gilad was set up without the permission of the government.

The United States has called for an end to settlement building and President George Bush is putting pressure on Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, to relieve conditions on the Palestinians. Binyamin Ben Eliezer, the Israeli Defence Minister, has also made dismantling the illegal settlements his personal project. So far, the army has taken down several unpopulated outposts.

Havat Gilad was the first settlement scheduled for dismantling. But the army ran into trouble when settlers arrived in their hundreds. An Israeli television channel said its film crew was attacked and there were reports a Red Cross worker was attacked.

Gilad Zar's father, Moshe Zar, reportedly agreed to leave the settlement yesterday. But hardline settlers continued to protest. They agreed to disperse after negotiating a deal with the Defence Ministry that allows them to farm the land but leave at night.

The settlers believe God gave the Jewish people all the land in Israel including the West Bank. The Palestinians believe the settlements are robbing them of the 22 per cent of historic Palestine that is left to them.